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Steel's Fire Resistance

A fire can catch exceedingly fast. So why would it surprise anyone that the recent rise in the use of anything that isn’t steel framing for mid-rise construction projects has been accompanied by a steadily growing catalog of fires in dozens of cities across the U.S. and Canada? Steel has an obvious advantage in that its core ingredients are fire resistant. So, that begs the question that shouldn’t more steel structures be speced and built?

According to a handbook published by the National Fire Prevention Association titled “Fundamentals of Fire Fighter Skills,” (Third Edition, by David Schottke) states: “From a firefighter’s point of view, lightweight wood-frame construction is a campfire waiting to happen. A fire in this type of construction will spread rapidly throughout the building and to adjacent exposures.” And it’s a point a view that’s echoed by fire service professionals across the country. Says Scott Marks with the International Association of Fire Fighters: “The increase in the amount of wood in the structure increases the fuel load. When you start to tally up the wood in those buildings there is an incredible amount of potential fuel load for a fire. And because of the higher combustible load, incidents go from incipient to catastrophic in very short order.”

Check out the May 2020 edition of Walls & Ceilings: The devoted team of Green Country Drywall at a recent job site in Oklahoma, rainscreen drainage and ventilation mats, SBA loans via the CARES act, and much more!